Program doesn’t give kids “special favors”
In response to reports that President Trump plans to eliminate the Head Start program, First Focus on Children President Bruce Lesley issued the following statement:
“As a candidate, President Trump promised to address the child care crisis in this country, even going so far as to say that child care wasn’t really that expensive and that tariffs would pay for it. Yet here we are, with the Administration considering a budget proposal that would eliminate Head Start, a program that cares for more than 775 million low-income children each year, providing comprehensive early childhood learning and development, health and well-being, and family engagement and support services. The Administration began chipping away at the program earlier this year with a funding freeze, then last month made deep staff cuts, and now has eliminated half of all 10 regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services, which play a key role in delivering the services of Head Start and other vital child care and child welfare programs. Rarely has there been such a clear, targeted attack on children.
Parents already have trouble finding available child care and early learning programs, and even when they do, they struggle to afford them. The average annual cost of center-based child care for an infant is over $15,000, more than in-state college tuition in many states. And who has the least access and greatest financial challenges to care? The children served by Head Start.
These children include kids ages zero to 5 with disabilities, those in foster care and children experiencing homelessness. But Head Start isn’t about the government giving these kids special favors. Research has shown that early learning does improve children’s personal success. But it also increases their participation in the workforce, economy and civic life as adults. It allows parents who otherwise could not afford care to hold jobs or finish their education. In other words, Head Start is good for America.
Project 2025, the conservative policy agenda created as a blueprint for the new Administration, proposed eliminating Head Start. And although President Trump has closely followed the extremist agenda’s recommendations, it is still shocking to see an Administration consider a proposal that will impose such widespread harm on children.
Congress must oppose this and other efforts to hollow out support for children. Because when we undermine our children, we undermine the nation itself.”
Read Trump Administration’s Plan to Eliminate Head Start Threatens Child Care, Families, and Economy.
Read How Project 2025 Would Limit Family Choice in Child Care.